The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors that may be stacked such that one of the connectors at least partially nests within a cavity of another connector.
Some electrical connectors and connector assemblies include multiple ports for electrically connecting to multiple mating connectors. Typically the multiple ports are packaged in a unitary, one-piece connector housing. However, some connectors are configured to be stacked on another connector to define a hybrid or dual connector system. Each of the connectors in the dual connector system may include one or more ports. Relative to unitary, one-piece multi-port connectors, the dual connector systems offer more flexibility in uses and applications. For example, the discrete connectors in the dual connector systems may be configured to be utilized individually (as independent and separate single port connectors) or together as the dual connector system.
In a hypothetical example, a system with one or more single port connectors mounted on a circuit board may require a multiple-port connection interface, such as if there is insufficient available space along an edge of the circuit board to add another single port connector adjacent to the existing connectors. Using a unitary, one-piece multi-port connector may be undesirable and costly because it requires replacing one of the existing single port connectors with a new one-piece multi-port connector. A dual connector system may be preferable in this hypothetical example because the upper or “stacking” connector of the dual connector system may be able to be mounted over an existing single port board-mounted connector as a retrofit without requiring purchase of a new one-piece multi-port connector and without replacing an existing connector.
The signal transmission performance of multi-port connectors, including both unitary multi-port connectors and dual connector systems, may suffer at high signal speeds due to electrical interference and insertion loss. For example, the signal conductors extending from the upper port(s) to the circuit board are longer than the signal conductors extending from the lower port(s) to the circuit board. The elongated signal conductors may be more susceptible to electrical interference, such as crosstalk, and return loss along the lengths of the signal conductors than the shorter signal conductors.
A need remains for providing a stacked dual connector system with improved signal transmission performance at high signal speeds.